Reid and Emily

All of my children are taking a nap right now, which never happens, since Grace doesn't nap anymore, and Abby's down to about 30% of the time...but it just so happens that they got to bed really late last night because we were picking up my DREAM oven from a dude on craigslist who also decided to throw in his microwave which is awesome because it also just so happens that at about 7pm last night the dudes who've been working on my kitchen the past week finally finished and as soon as that microwave and oven are installed and my dishes are clean i'll do some serious "after" pictures of what has become my new favorite place to be!!!! (i hope you read that as fast as i wrote it...who has time for punctuation? not me!! ...well, except for exclamation points!) It'll take a while to dig through my old photos to find the "before" pics...since it was about 16 months ago that this started!!! I'm a little embarrassed about how longs it's taken...could it be a coincidence that Eliza is also about 16 months old? probably.

But the REAL reason i can sit down and even type ANYTHING right now is because the project that has taken over my life for the past 3 weeks (+22 months) is finally finished!! Eliza's Christmas stocking is currently being washed, so i have no pics...yet.

I feel like a new woman. Like a person who finishes things. It's nice.

For now, i need to post some pics of our awesome Thanksgiving with Reid's fam, my kids who i've been enjoying more the past few months than the entire year prior, Abby's absolutely adorable performance at her dance recital, our Christmas tree that makes me happier than any other dying plant in my life, and Grace sitting on Santa's lap!!!!

Abby was so stinkin' cute in her dance/tap recital. And i was that mom who's sitting in the audience, slightly going thru the motions of the dance routine in the off-chance that Abby were to look to me for guidance.

I took Grace and Abby to go see Santa at our mall. Now, my children have never done anything but cry, or rather scream at the sight of Santa...so you can only imagine how surprised/happy/proud/hyper I was to see them both climb up there on his lap! AND they told him exactly what they'd told me they were going to ask for. He was very kind and patient with Grace's slow, deliberate delivery of her request and Abby's completely incomprehensible babblings. When we got in the car to leave Grace said, "oh no, mom, i forgot to ask Santa to get toys for the little kids without homes!!" how sweet she is...

We had so much fun on our 60 degree Thanksgiving Day. So much of the day was spent outside in our backyard. Reid and Tom smoked our turkey, which turned out amazing. Everything else turned out awesome, too. And we loved having everyone around for the long weekend!! Thanks, ladies, for going to the gym with me on t-day morning...and sorry that following three days were so miserable :) and sorry, also, that I've completely decided that i hate Black Friday and will never do it again!! not even at second-hand and consignment stores!!

Grace has been really into Christmas this year. And i'm LOVIN' it! She loved decorating the tree. We even made a few ornaments...including my favorites--the dried grapefruit. There's something magical about Christmas trees. Esecially when you get to decorate them with sweet 4 year olds. I really do love this tree. I only hope it doesn't feel jealous sharing my attention with my finished kitchen :)